


Out of the Woods

by Oilux



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Fairies, Fairy Tale Elements, NaNoWriMo, NaNoWriMo 2017, National Novel Writing Month, Original work - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-04
Packaged: 2019-01-29 14:52:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12633360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oilux/pseuds/Oilux
Summary: Jo August is a college student, merely looking to get through the years there so she wouldn't have to come back anytime soon. When her friend Sam convinces her to go to a party in the woods, she finds more than she bargains for when she stumbles across the party held by the Fairy King.Can she make it out alive? And if she does, what will the Fairy King want from her?





	Out of the Woods

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome, to my sixth year of National Novel Writing Month! Enjoy!

A canopy of leaves rustled with the breeze that gently blew through the forest of pine trees. Nature stood abundantly clear in the area it still owned, leaves spread so thickly overhead that in places the sun could not reach the earth. Woodpeckers made their homes in hollowed out, fallen trees, not seeming to care for the decay that made of their home.

The sun broke over the horizon, bringing about a new day with bright rays to chase away the dreams and nightmares. The sun didn't care for what happened when the moon rose, the sun didn't care for the dreams it chased away or the creatures who slept during its time. The sun only cared that it rose when it needed to, that it took care of itself and moved when it needed to.

Mirthful laughter echoed through the trees, chasing the shadows that disappeared as the sun rose. The faint sound of music echoed with the birds who were just starting to rise, dying out into a melody that was repeated by the tuneful whistling of songbirds and nightingales. As the light touched the earth, there was nothing else except for an echo of a song played only by the birds. Giggles of laughter became creaks of the trees waking and settling in the wind, pausing only when the laughter stopped and something, something unnoticed by nature, left.

Upon a fallen, broken tree a bullfrog irritably huffed at the sight of the sun, croaking with distaste as it moved from its perch to the ground. It chased the shadows long gone, hopping around the log and further into the forest, letting out the occasional croak. Hopping over a large mushroom, the bullfrog's rump hit the back of it, but the bullfrog paid it no mind and made its way further into the forest. Finally finding its way back into the shadows, the bullfrog settled happily against the moss and dirt, croaking happily at the peace it found in the darkness.

From the edge of the mushrooms, a circle of fungi that meant nothing important to the bullfrog, in the darkness, a sharp set of teeth and claws glinted, catching the light in one last flash before it surged forward. The bullfrog let out a last, pitiful croak at being ripped from its hiding place before it was devoured by sharp claws and sharp teeth, gone in a blink of an eye.

For a single moment, the forest froze, a moment in time as everything stopped. Sickening crunches could be heard, drops of blood hitting leaves as something ate, feasted on flesh that tore easily under nails and teeth. Then, the forest started up again, the birds sang, bees flew, and bullfrogs croaked as they settled into sleep.

Nothing living entered the ring of mushrooms that circled the center of the forest.

* * *

Josephine laid her head on the desk, groaning slightly as the professor assigned yet another video response. They were only about half a page at most, but they were assigned so often that they were a time-consuming activity that Jo had truly started to hate.

"Is there a problem, Miss August?" The professor spoke up, and she could feel the entire class turn to stare at her.

"No, sir. Just a headache coming on." The lie was terrible as it slid past her lips, no doubt that Professor Molene could hear it as well, but he didn't say anything further on it.

"Good, not today's film is about…" Professor Moleen started to drone on again, explaining what they would see in today's video, but Jo couldn't bring herself to even pay attention to it. There was something peaceful about his voice, the way to moved across her ears as he explained random and unnecessary facts.

"Jo, are you going to take notes?" Sam whispered next to her, jostling her own papers silently. They folded over one another in a small, but intricate forms that showed off Sam's origami skills. "I can't pay attention to another stupid video."

Jo laughed, bringing her hand to her mouth to muffle the sound so Professor Moleen wouldn't hear it. "Why take notes? Just go home and bullshit a couple reasons as to what this video made you feel?"

"But I don't even know what it's about," Sam whined, just about pouting. Jo snickered again, getting a look from Professor Moleen. "Please, Jo."

"Fine, but you owe me one." Jo settled into the hard, plastic seat of her chair as the lights dimmed. It figured that even in college she couldn't even escape the hard plastic seats of desks. At least these ones were big enough for her to spread out her papers comfortably. In some classes, the desks were so small they couldn't even hold a paper and pencil on them.

Jo leaned her head on her hand as she started to watch the movie. It was hard to believe that there were so many videos's about statistics that all talked about different statistics. Math wasn't her strong point, but Josephine had hoped to learn something about how to use it in the real world. Instead, it was a bunch of nonsense that didn't make sense about numbers and letters.

She blinked heavily as the man in the video droned on about how statistics were used in everything. He was pointing at a bridge, saying something about how bridges could only be built with math and statistics, but Jo couldn't bring herself to absorb a word he was saying. It seemed like he was repeating the same sentence over and over and over again.

"Statistics is one of the foundations of our society, it's well known…" Jo felt herself start to drift off, unable to stop herself from leaning more against her hand, eyes sliding closed.

Just as she was inside her class, in the same hard plastic chair she had sat in since the first day of class, she was sitting outside in the forest, the warm light of the sun beaming down on her face. Birds chirped around her, creating a lovely tune that could never be repeated again, except for them. The grass tickled the back of her neck and ankles, and she slowly sat up, feeling her thick hair fall back into place. She ran a hand through it, feeling twigs and leaves entangled there. It would take too much work for her to work out all the twigs and leaves from her hair, so she let it fall back into place, a tangled mess on her head.

"I'm too tired for this." Jo stood up, feeling grass brush against her bare feet. "What happened to my shoes? Was I wearing shoes?"

She couldn't remember, but after a moment it didn't seem to matter anymore. Jo stretched, feeling her muscles tense under her skin as she tried her best to relax. There was a peacefulness that came with the woods, something that she had never found anywhere else. People claimed the ocean was calm, but the ocean was a storm, full of hurricanes and rain as it beat constantly against the shore.

Josephine moved forward, the ground soft against her feet, grass tickling her between her toes. There were no sharp twigs that cut into her feet or thorny weeds that would cause her pain. She glanced around, looking for a sign, a path to take, some sign for where she needed to go. All around her was pine trees, high in the sky as she tried to look for a trail. It all looked the same, no matter what direction she turned in.

"Hello?" Jo called, not expecting an answer, but still hoping. "Is anyone out there?"

Birds didn't even return her call. Jo tilted her head to the side, settling into the eerily silence that engulfed her. Weren't birds just singing a moment ago? There were no birds, no rustle of leaves, nothing. She could hear her own breathing, and suddenly she was acutely aware of it, but she couldn't stop breathing.

"Is anyone there? I think I'm lost." Jo tried again. Her voice fell flat against the air, words landing heavily like they were made of steel. Jo stepped forward, looking down as her foot brushed something.

A large mushroom grew out of the ground, the flat, white head of it nearly sitting on the ground. At first glance, it almost looked like a stepping stone, pale white against the green grass. Josephine's foot had almost stepped on it, barely missing it by an inch. Next, to it, there was another mushroom, just as large and white. The more she looked, the more she saw, as they expanded out and created a large circle, seeming to just wait for her to walk into it.

A breeze suddenly picked up, caressing her skin in a soft kiss, pushing against her back, urging her forward. It felt like arms against her, a presence there, but when she turned her hair whipped in her face, and she had to turn back to face the circle of grass.

Come forward, the wind seemed to whisper, the warmth of the sun more comforting than any lover's embrace she had before. Jo looked down, wiggling her toes in the grass as the wind grew softer, floating up and down her upper arms as though it knew her more intimately than she knew herself.

Come forward, it breathed against her cheeks, pulling her forward, and she stepped forward-

"Jo! Wake up!" Sam smacked her arm, and Jo took in a deep breath of air, opening her eyes to see an empty classroom, devoid of other students and even the professor. "Dude, you're a heavy sleeper."

"Wha?" Jo mumbled, her voice thick. She could still feel the chill of the wind against her skin, feel the grass on her feet even through her shoes. "Movie?"

"You slept through it." Sam laughed, picking up her bag and throwing it haphazardly over her shoulder. For a moment the light caught her short, red hair, making it look like a wave of fire. "Just gotta bullshit your way through it, don't ya?"

"Did I really fall asleep?" Jo reached up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She felt more grounded where she was, but it no longer felt real. "Did the teacher notice?"

"Everyone noticed," Sam teased. "Come on, you're gonna be late for your next class."

"Shit," Jo cursed, jumping up. She shoved her binder into her bag, tossing it over her shoulder just like Sam had done. The other girl laughed at her, waiting in the doorway. "I really hate my next class."

"More than stats?" Sam whistled lowly when Jo nodded solemnly. "What is it?"

"It's sign language." Jo flapped her hand softly. "It's stupid, I thought it'd be easier than taking a different foreign language, but it's just as stupidly hard as the rest."

"I thought you were having fun in that class." Sam questioned, shouldering her bag up a little higher. She waved to someone a little further across the campus. They waved back eagerly to Sam.

"I was, it's just stressful." Jo looked into the window of the campus cafe as they passed it. Large signs hung in the window, advertising the Homecoming game and party. "You know, I really thought that I would be done with Homecoming once I left high school."

"Don't you know high school never ends?" Sam laughed, tapping her chin. Jo continued to stare at the poster, not really absorbing the words. It was a terrible orange color, so bright it hurt Jo's eyes. "Do you want to go to the party or something? It's supposed to be fun."

"Yeah, sure let's go to a party in the middle of the woods, with a bunch of drunk frat boys." Jo snorted at her own sarcasm. "Seriously, who has a party in the middle of the woods?"

"Drunk, frat boys." Sam threaded her arm through Jo's own, tugging her away from the window. "Come on, we should go! It'll be fun to actually go to a party."

"Why go to a party when we can stay inside and order pizza?" Jo asked instead, leaning slightly against Sam. "We can order one with extra sausage if you want, it's more than the boys at this school have."

"Oh my god, Jo!" Sam smacked Jo's arm, absolutely cackling with delight. "You're so bad."

"You know it's true!" Jo tugged Sam out of the way of a group of freshmen. They traveled in packs, those ones, but Jo remembered being the same way when she was new on campus. "Do you really want to go?"

"We haven't been to any parties since freshman year!" Jo let out a breathless laugh at her friend's antics. "Jo, c'mon. Let's have fun!"

"We have plenty of fun," Jo defended. "I just don't want to get wasted on cheap beer and have guys feel me up."

"Then don't get wasted! You can be the designated driver." They reached Sam's class, but she didn't go inside just yet. "Well, since it's right outside campus I guess you'd be the designated walker."

"Oh my god," Jo said with a laugh. "Fine, fine, we can go to the stupid party. But you can't leave me alone during it!"

Sam let out a squeal of excitement, drawing the attention of other students, and some concerned faculty. Jo blushed at the hug, not used to that much attention being on her. Sam pulled away as quickly as she had brought Jo in for a hug, she pulled away.

"I'll see you tonight!" Sam beamed with excitement, turning and nearly slamming into the door to her classroom. Jo laughed at her friend, turning herself at a slower pace and heading off to sign language. Just a couple more hours until classes were over for the day.

* * *

The small twin bed groaned as Jo flopped down on it, blankets and pillows fluttering in protest at her action. Her dorm room was small, barely enough space for her bed and a desk to fit in, but she had it all to herself, from the decorative posters on the wall to the pictures of family that rested on her desk.

Her stomach growled at her, demanding food. Jo groaned softly in argument, dragging herself further on the bed and refusing to move even as the pain started to nag at her. She could order a pizza, but even talking on the phone seemed like too much work, and going down to the cafeteria was definitely way too much for her to do.

"Jo!" Sam knocked first before she walked in, a small plate wrapped in tin foil. "Cooking class had leftover pot stickers, I got some for you."

"Oh my god, I love you." Jo sat up, taking the plate eagerly from the snickering girl. "Did you see Tia?"

"Yeah, she was screaming about the other people in her class not being able to do anything." Sam sat down on the end of the bed, Jo moved her legs so her friend would have more room to sit down. "She said she'd be up later." Sam took out her phone, fiddling with the small device, scrolling through text messages. "I made sure to grab the potstickers that Tia made."

"Thank goodness," Jo said through a mouthful of food. Sam made a small gagging noise. "What? I'm a respectable young woman."

"Girl, I know you ain't be eating like that." Tia stood in the doorway, arms crossed over her heavy chef's coat. It was stained with all sorts of things and needed a wash. "Didn't your momma teach you better?"

"Oh, go fuck yourself." Jo still swallowed her bite before speaking. "I'm tired and hungry, leave me alone."

A burst of laughter erupted from Tia as she plopped down in the chair at Jo's desk, removing her chef's hat and letting her dreadlocks down from their bun. All three girls took a deep breath in unison, relaxing after a long day. Jo quickly finished the plate full of pot stickers, tossing the paper plate into the wastebasket.

"I have so much homework," Sam lamented, throwing her head back against the wall and wincing at the resounding crack that came from the impact with the drywall. "I don't want to do any of it."

"Hey, you're paying for the class," Tia reminded her. "But you don't have to do anything you don't want to."

"Let's go to my room and watch bad movies." Sam offered instead, turning to the other two. Jo snorted at the puppy dog eyes her friend gave her. "Please?"

"I got homework I cruelly need to do." Jo stretched slightly. "I'll put it off if you want to do that instead of going to the party."

"No way, I finally got you to agree to go." Sam sighed, picking at the comforter on Jo's bed. It was torn slightly, needing repair.

"You guys are going to the Homecoming party?" Tia kicked the edge of the bed, getting the attention of both girls. "You know it's in the middle of godforsaken woods."

"We know." Sam kicked the bottom of Tia's chair in retaliation. "Does that mean you're not gonna come with us?"

"If I didn't go with you dumbasses, you'd probably hurt your damn selves." Tia smirked, eyes crinkling behind her glasses.

"Rude." Jo flicked her fingers at her friends. "Alright, bitches, I got homework. Get out."

"You're so mean!" Sam lamented dramatically, falling sideways on the bed, one hand clutched at her heart and the other pressed against her forehead, every image of an actress. "My presence is a grace, you should be counting yourself lucky that you're even worth my time."

"Tell me why you're not going into acting for a career again?" Tia asked, picking at her nails. Just the day before she had painted them, and already they were chipped and nearly gone. "Or at least join the drama club."

"Because they're stupid and don't appreciate the amazingness that is me." Sam brushed her bangs away from her eyes. "I'll start my own fan club, you guys can join I guess."

"I don't think there'll be room with your giant ego." Jo teased, hearing a loud laugh from Tia. "What, would we all wear matching t-shirts that have your face printed on them?"

"Duh. What else would we wear?" Tia rolled her eyes like Jo was stupid, not making a bit of sense. "Wear something else to the Sam Turner fan club?"

"Do I get to be president?" Jo asked, reaching over and lightly kicking Sam. "Are you happy with yourself?"

"Extremely." Sam answered, barely hiding a yawn behind her hand.

"Great, now get out of my room. Homework time." Jo kicked her friend again, lightly enough so it wouldn't hurt but with enough force that she would be able to feel it. "Just because you're avoiding your homework doesn't mean I want to avoid mine."

"Don't call her out like that." Tia laughed, filled with mirth. "I gotta go over recipes anyways."

"Fine, fine, you all are so mean to me anyways." Sam scratched her nail across the bedspread once more before she rose, pulling her shirt down so it covered her stomach.

"Oh, quit your bellyaching." Tia reached over, mussing with her friend's red locks and putting them back into place. "Go do your homework."

"You guys suck." Without another word, but with a fond smile, Sam left the two alone, hair just as messy as when Tia had tried to fix it. Jo stretched out on her bed, reveling in the room and warm sheets on her bed.

"Night, Jo." Tia announced, standing in the doorway. "You're so lucky you have your own room."

"Roommate still being weird?" Jo sat back against her pillows, fixing them until they were in the perfect place where she could sit up and look at her homework in her lap.

"She's just annoying. She kept me up all night last night reading a book." Tia leaned her head against the doorframe. "I really need to get a curtain or something that can block her out."

"What was it about?" Jo asked, pulling her bag onto the bed. Paper awkwardly slipped out of her bag, but she grabbed it and simply moved it into her lap.

"What was what about?" Tia fiddled with the edge of her chef's coat, staring with disgust at the stains that would hopefully wash out. "I really need a new one of these."

"The book." Jo tried again, not exactly sure why she was even curious. "What was the book about?"

"I think it was about mythical creatures or something." Tia flapped her hand at Jo, getting an eyebrow raise from the other girl. "It was stupid, who wants to read about goblins and trolls?"

"Some people like them." Jo tried to defend. She had never actually met Tia's roommate, but she had heard a lot about her. It was an interesting topic at times, Jo herself had a couple different books on different myths and legends that were out there, staked in a precarious pile on the floor next to her desk.

"Don't mean that she has to keep me up all night reading about them." Tia scoffed. "Whatever, night Jo."

"Night, Tia. Make sure you close the door." Jo moved a couple papers, hearing the door close with a soft click. The bag she had hanging on the back of the door swung heavily, almost falling to the ground. Jo watched it to make sure it wouldn't fall, pursing her lips as it seemed to taunt her.

"Stay." Jo told the bag. "I am not getting up from this bed."

As if defying her, the bag fell to the ground, landing with a soft crash. It sat in a lump on the carpeted floor, waiting for her to come and pick it up to put it back in its place. Jo scoffed, of course even the inanimate object wouldn't listen to her.

"Fine, stay on the floor." Jo dragged her pen over the paper, starting on the worksheet for sign language. "See if I care."

Her clock on the wall ticked away the seconds, and the minutes, and then the hours. Jo moved on from worksheets to video responses, her laptop grabbed from her desk and put in her lap. Jo didn't glance at the time for hours until her eyes were heavy with sleep, and yawns could barely be contained.

Jo rolled over, crawling out of bed and turning out the light, slipping out of her jeans and button up shirt and into pajamas. The soft cotton was comforting on her skin after the constricting material of the jeans. Jo checked her phone, always double checking the alarm as she did every night, replying to a couple last text messages asking about homework before she finally put her phone to the side and went to bed.

**Author's Note:**

> So, here's the novel I'm writing for NaNoWriMo! Let me know what you thought below!


End file.
